Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation

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Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation

Released May 24, 2019

1h 36m

Documentary

Music

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86%

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29 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Featuring never-before-seen footage, filmmaker Barak Goodman examines the cultural, political and social ramifications of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in upstate New York.

Critics Consensus

Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation lives up to its title with an entertaining contextualization of the titular festival and its cultural impact.

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Scott Bryan

BBC.com

There is so much great footage, it could have been done just the other week, because everyone looks exactly the same. Every festival today has some sort of debt to Woodstock in some way.

Jul 15, 2020

Full Review

Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It does bring a freshness to a story that we've heard a million times.

Oct 1, 2019

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Alastair McKay

London Evening Standard

Some optimism is required to allow for the possibility that the chaos of Woodstock offered a template for anything, but, if you inhale deeply, the film just about achieves this microcosmic ambition.

Aug 19, 2019

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Bill Brioux

Brioux.tv

... For one golden summer at least, there really was a beautiful truce in America. A generation united under a freaky rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” and got by with a little help from their friends.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 18, 2022

Full Review

Carla Hay

Culture Mix

Whereas the original Woodstock movie was essentially a concert film, this PBS Woodstock documentary attempts to fill in a lot of the behind-the-scenes blanks, much like bonus commentary does on a home-video release.

Jul 12, 2020

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David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

If you enjoy this Woodstock doc as much as I did, you may want to check into the growing library of concert memorabilia, including the three-hour-plus concert film and record album.

May 28, 2020

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Audience Member

The story of the worlds biggest and most known festival. Taking place just once, but the story behind it is worth a thousand gigs. We get everything in detail. The planning, the changes, the replanning, the problems, the uppers and the downers. We get to see how a very short staff made a 500.000 crowd of young, stoned people have the time of they're life. Clips from shows, voice over from attendees, volunteers and producers - it digs into everything. Beautifully restaured footage makes sure that the quality of the film is high and keeps it interesting and present-worthy even today. It's touching to see all these great people that made this and it reminds me of my own Roskilde years. 8.5 out of 10 peace signs.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I just visited the site and museum August 2019. Watching this documentary puts the prices together and makes you appreciate the message behind the music. We need more Woodstock's in today's world to wake people up...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

dave v

Absolutely superb, capturing the naivete, determination, and spirit of those involved in putting it on, as well as the essence of this remarkable event.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Excellent documentary about the planning, prep, execution, and performances @ Woodstock! Awesome directing and editing of the incredibly high-quality footage from 1969 and recent audio interviews from those who were related to the festival in some fashion. Highly recommended!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The first line of the documentary is "this really could have been a disaster. " I admit I'm probably too young to appreciate what an amazing event this was, but , it could have been a whole lot better. Think of all the great acts in 69 that were not there . Elvis , the Beatles , The Rolling Stones . Nobody got paid , the people who bought tickets couldn't even get in . There were no fences , security was a joke. It rained . Musicians were getting electrocuted. In a way , it really was a disaster.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

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Barak Goodman

Director

Jamila Ephron

Co-Director

Barak Goodman

Writer

Don Kleszy

Writer

Jamila Ephron

Producer

Barak Goodman

Producer

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Synopsis

Featuring never-before-seen footage, filmmaker Barak Goodman examines the cultural, political and social ramifications of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in upstate New York.

Director: Barak Goodman
Producer: Jamila Ephron, Barak Goodman, Mark Samels
Screenwriter: Barak Goodman, Don Kleszy
Distributor: American Experience, PBS Distribution
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 24, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 14, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $84.4K
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Stereo

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